Distant Memories
by italiagal888
Summary: Clare and Eli have been married for a while and have two wonderful children. But when Fitz returns into their lives, they soon find themselves dealing with a tragedy that will affect them forever...
1. Chapter 1

Its been 17 years since Eli and I have known each other. We ended up getting married when he was 25 and I was 24. I got a job as journalist for the Toronto Sun and Eli took over his dad's radio station. Things are great between us. Yes we had our ups and downs (especially when we were dating in high school. We broke up for a bit and I started dating my friend Jake). I haven't talked to Jake in a while. Last I heard he went to school become a business man and got his girlfriend pregnant at age 20.

But as I said before, things between Eli and I are great. We have two beautiful children; Annabelle Marie Goldsworthy, age 7 and Eric William Goldsworthy, age 5. We love our children with all our heart. We're very protective of Eric because he is a small, fragile boy. He almost died after I gave birth to him from having such a low body weight. We keep a close eye on him, but his sister is always there to protect him. It so cute when I see them play outside, she holds his hand sometimes. Those were the good old days.

I'll never forget that one evening when I came home. The babysitter just left and the kids ran into my arms as I gave them each a kiss on the head.

"Mommy," said Eric. "Some man came to us today while we were playing and said he was a friend of yours. He was telling us about the word of God!"

I was puzzled by this. Where was the babysitter when this was happening?

"What did this man say his name was?"

"Mark FitzGerald"

My blood ran cold. Not Fitz! Last time I saw him he told Eli that him and I have a "spiritual connection". I told my children to stay away from Fitz because Mommy was not a friend of his anymore. They didn't ask why, which I'm grateful for. I went to call Eli while he was at work.

"Hey sweetie! How was work?"

"Great. Um, there's something I need to tell you. Fitz came by today when I was at work. He talked to the kids."

There was silence followed by Eli's cursing.

"That bastard! I don't want him near anyone in this family! I'm going to find him and kill him"

"NO! Don't say that! I'm going to find him myself! I'll talk to him and tell him if he doesn't leave us alone, I'll get a restraining order"

"No Clare. That's too much of a risk! What if he hurts you?"

"Eli! I can handle myself! Don' worry!"

"Please Clare, don't do it! Promise me you won't go looking for him."

I didn't say anything right away. I thought that I can talk to Fitz another time and Eli doesn't have know about it.

"I promise"


	2. Chapter 2

I hated lying Eli and doing this behind his back. But I know if he went to talk to Fitz everything would end horribly. That night when Eli was still at work doing the radio show and the kids were asleep, I went to the phone book and looked up Mark Fitzgerald. I had to call 3 other Mark Fizgeralds before I finally reached Fitz.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Fitz?"

"Hahaha no one has called me that since high school! Wait a second, is this...Clare Edwards?"

"Uh, yeah it is. I heard you stopped by my house earlier today and talked to the kids. Fitz, I think we should talk."

"Oh, of course! I would love to catch up" He sounded very excited.

We planned to meet up at The Dot tomorrow evening after work. I asked the babysitter to stay a bit longer than usual. I still felt very guilty for lying to Eli. We are married, we work as a team and to do this behind is back is so wrong, but I'm really the only one who can handle Fitz.

The next day around 5:00, I went to The Dot. As I sat there waiting for him, I opened my phone to check the time. I looked at my screen saver and saw my beautiful children. Annabelle looked almost exactly like Eli; long, straight black hair except she has my light blue eyes. She even had her father's wit and charm. They listen to classic rock together in the garage as she helps Eli tune up his car that he calls Kelso. For her 7th birthday, we bought her a guitar and she just started lessons. She's a true natural and already told us when she's older she wants to form a band. Eric on the other hand is my mini me. Short, curly light brown hair, light blue eyes. He's quieter and enjoys drawing. We listen to Michael Jackson together or sometimes The Beatles. For a small boy, he has a big heart. Whenever someone in the family gets sick, he's there with a blanket and keeps the other company.

I closed my phone to see that Fitz was just walking in. He looked around, saw me and smiled. I never was into Fitz like some girls at my school were. It was strange because I always saw him as the school bully, even when he found God.

"Hi, Clare. How are you?"

"Hey Fitz, I'm doing well, how are you?"

"Please, call me Mark. Fitz was something I got rid of a long time ago."

"Alright...Mark" It was weird calling him by his first name.

"It was so nice of you to invite me out for coffee. I haven't seen you in so long Clare! Not since..." He paused and looked down. I know he's remembering that night when I told him I love Eli instead of him and made him leave. I tried my best to erase that day from my memory.

He looked back up. "It doesn't matter when I last saw you. I'm just glad to be with you here right now!"

"F- I mean Mark. There's something I need to tell you. I don't want to come across as rude, but... Eli and I don't exactly feel comfortable being around our children. I mean its just Eli still hasn't exactly forgiven you for what you did to him in high school."

"Oh. I understand completely. I mean I know Eli is still bitter, but I hope the Lord will open his heart and will soon forgive me"

"Yeah, but for now, can you just... stay away from them, for Eli's sake?"

"Of course Clare. But when I went to your house yesterday, I was looking for you."

_Wait, what? _I thought.

"Um, why you would want to look for me?"

"Clare I know its been many years since we last saw each other but" He grabbed my hand. "I still love you" he whispered.

I pulled my hand back. "Fitz, I'm married to Eli! I love him! I'm not leaving him or my children to run off with you."

"Its MARK." He yelled. He looked shocked at himself, but then calmed down. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me."

"Mark, it was a bad idea for me to come here. Just, don't come near us again okay? Or I will get a restraining order."

I left The Dot without looking back. I should have kept my promise to Eli and never should have gone looking for him. As I drove home, all I could think about was Fitz's face when I said I loved Eli. The amount of hurt he had, I almost felt bad for him.

When I got home, I was surprised to see that Eli's car was in the driveway. I went to unlock the front door, when it suddenly opened.

"Hello, my lovely wife. Where were you?"

"I, uh, had to stay back at work for a bit. What are you doing home?"

"I took the night off and told Jeff to take over for me tonight because tonight, we're going out to dinner. The babysitter said she'll stay and watch the children"

"That sounds wonderful! Let me quickly change."

As soon as I changed, we went out to a lovely Italian restaurant. I was having a great time and I even forgot about my visit with Fitz.

We came home around 11:30. When we opened the front door, what I saw completely shocked me. Annabelle was on the bottom stair, crying her eyes out and shaking. The babysitter was in the middle of the foyer, in a pool of her own blood. Her face was pale and she had been stabbed in the chest numerous times.

"H-he took E-Eric m-m-mommy. T-the man from y-y-yesterday" Annabelle then burst into tears.

**Oh man some serious stuff is happening! Chapter 3 is going to be very intense.**


	3. Chapter 3

Eli ran to Annabelle and hugged her. "I'm going to kill the bastard, KILL HIM!"

"No, Eli dont'! Annabelle, did he say where he took Eric?"

"He-he said he was g-going to A -A-Above The Dot. He t-told me to te-tell you to come a-alone."

I started to go towards the door.

"CLARE! I'm not going to let you go alone!" Eli shouted.

"Eli, stay here with Annabelle and call the cops! I need to fix this mess and get Eric! I'll be okay, Fitz won't hurt me."

Eli had a disapproving look on his face, but knew there was no time to fight so he let me go. I reached Above The Dot to find it completely deserted and dark. I couldn't find any lights so I called out, "Fitz?" and then the lights came on. I saw Eric was tied up to a chair and ran up to him. Before I could reach him, Fitz appeared.

"For the last time bitch, Its MARK!"

He held a gun to Eric's head, I gasped. Eric looked so scared and was crying softly.

"I told you I loved you, even after many years and what do you do? YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME! I tried to get you out of my mind for many years, but I couldn't help it. I prayed you would come to me, but you never did. So I took things into my own hands."

"Mark, please let Eric go so we can talk about this."

"I'M DONE TALKING! The last time we talked you walked away!"

"Alright alright... what do you want me to do?"

"Leave Eli and marry me. The kids can live with us and we can have children of our own. We can raise them Christian and teach them everything about God. Don't you think that's great Clare? We were meant for each other."

"I don't think so asshole"

I turned around and there Eli was with a gun in his hand pointed at Fitz.

"ELI! How could you leave Annabelle by herself?"

"I called Adam and he's with her and the police at home."

"Oh Eli you stupid boy. You weren't suppose to come. See, Clare and I were planning our future...without you." Fitz suddenly pointed the gun at Eli.

"Over my dead body."

"That's right, you'll soon be dead."

"I'm not going anywhere Fitz. See here's how its going to work, you're going to let Eric go and all three of us are going to go back home, while the police come and take you away."

Fitz started laughing manically. "You're so funny Eli, did I ever mention how funny you are?" He said sarcastically. Fitz started walking closer Eli. Eli just held his stance and his facial expression didn't change from its angry state.

"I'm going to make sure that the pain you're about to feel will be the end of you." Suddenly there was a gunshot and a scream.

**Oh no! Want to know what happened? Well, I guess you'll find out in chapter 4. **


	4. Chapter 4

He was dead. I couldn't believe it. Eric was dead.

Fitz had turned around last minute just as he was about to pull the trigger and shot Eric right between the eyes. I was in complete shock. I couldn't even cry at that moment. It still didn't hit me that my son was dead.

Fitz turned around after shooting Eric and pointed his gun at Eli, but Eli already shot Fitz in the chest.

"You fucking asshole. YOU'RE GOING TO DIE FOR KILLING MY SON!" Eli shot Fitz three more times in the chest and then fell on his knees and started to cry. Fitz's body laid on the ground, a pool of blood starting to form. I walked over to Eli and put my arms around his shoulder and started to cry as well. Soon my cries turned into heavy sobs. Next thing I knew I couldn't breathe for how hard I was crying. After about 15 minutes of hard crying, Eli and I walked to where Eric's dead body sat on the chair and untied him. I held his body and cried even harder than before. Eli moved Fitz's body and then kneeled where I was, put his hand on my back and just cried with me.

I looked at Eric's face. He didn't look like himself. His face was blue and cold, but there was blood running down the middle of his face from where he got shot. His eyes were still opened, but they were blank and lifeless. Seeing his face broke my heart into a million of pieces. Its my fault he's dead. I went looking for Fitz and making him angry that he took my son and killed him. Its something I'll never forgive myself for.

Its been around 3 months since Eric's death. It hasn't been easy for the family. Annabelle took it the hardest out of everyone. When we first told her Eric died, she cried for a month straight. She wouldn't leave her room, eat, talk to anyone or sleep. I became very worried that she might die from malnutrition. We had to take her a therapist. At first she refused to go and kept herself locked in her room. Finally after a while she realized she needed to talk to someone, so we made an appointment.

I thought for sure after the incident Eli would blame me for the death of our son and would leave me. But it turns out that he didn't think it was my fault. He told me eventually Fitz would have found me home one day and would profess his love one way or another. I'm glad I have Eli with me. Sometimes at night I'll wake up and start to cry and he'll hold me and try to comfort me.

Planning Eric's funeral was torture. That's when it really hit me that he was gone. I had a hard time doing it, but so many family members helped us out. My mom stayed with us for a bit after Eric's death. She cooked meals for us and would try to talk to Annabelle. Every time I walked by Annabelle's room, she played 'Wish You were Here' by Pink Floyd over and over again on her stereo. I wanted to help her so badly, but she was too devastated to talk to anyone.

Last I heard, someone who worked at Above The Dot found Fitz's body and contacted the police. They didn't find any evidence that he was murdered, so they just left the case. Fitz had no family, so there was no funeral for him, not that I would go. I'll never forgive the bastard to what he did to our family.

A couple of days later after the 3 month anniversary of Eric's death Annabelle ran down the stairs as I entered the front door, coming home from work. "Mom, some strange man came to the door while you were at work. He said his name was Jake Martin."


	5. Chapter 5

**Someone requested an epilogue so I'll try my best to make it enjoyable. **

30 years later 

"Mom! Hurry up, the wedding isn't going to wait for you"

I looked at Kevin and smiled. He looked so handsome in his tux. I walked over to him and gave him a hug.

"I just can't believe my little boy is all grown up!"

Annabelle and Eli walked in to the room.

"My boy! Getting married today! I can't believe it!" Eli said

Annabelle turned to me and whispered, "I wish Eric was here. He would be so happy for his little brother getting married."

The thought of Eric bring s pain into my chest, but I breathed through it like my therapist taught me.

"He would be extremely proud of him" I said. Eric's passing was tragedy, but yet a blessing. After his death I got pregnant with Kevin Joseph Goldsworthy. He looks exactly like Eric and I'm not even exaggerating. Sometimes its hard to look at him without thinking about Eric and the horrible night that ended with his death. The first year after he died was unbearable. I cried every night and Annabelle started cutting herself. The family was falling apart and I almost took my own life when I tried to drown myself in the bathtub. But I couldn't do it because I knew that would be hard on Eli and Annabelle. So Eli and I discussed it and we wanted to have another child. Then Kevin was born. He brought so much joy back into our lives that we lost after Eric's death. He was God's greatest gift.

"Come here slugger! Getting married today! Who would have thought someone was interested in you?" Annabelle teased Kevin.

"Ha ha ha very funny Annabelle. Where's your husband?" He retorted.

"Oh nice one. I'll get you back for that later, but today is your day. So, I'm letting it go."

"Why don't we start going to the chapel. We don't want the bride to find her groom missing" I said.

Once we were done at the church, we went to reception and greeted the guest. I wish my parents came, but they both moved to different parts of the world and couldn't make it. I didn't really talk to them much after I got married. They didn't approve of Eli and didn't come to my wedding.

As we were greeting people, Jake came up to us. The last time we talked it was 30 years ago when he came by to say he was leaving to go to Afghanistan to fight in the war. At that time it was the first time talking to him since we graduated high school. And now here he is again.

"I just came by to say congratulations to Kevin and his bride. Your mom told me he was getting married"

"Thank you. It means a lot" Eli said. Even though Eli and Jake had their differences, they got along better in their senior year. I accepted the fact that Jake was my step brother and that we could never be together. It was hard at first to see him bring girls home and stuff, but it only brought me closer to Eli. It was another blessing in disguise.

"Thank you for coming Jake" I finally said. Jake nodded, looked down and left.

"Who was that guy?" Kevin whispered.

"Just an old friend of mine" I said.

When it was time for the reception to start, we all sat down and ate. Kevin asked his bride to dance and they shared their first dance. Once they were done everyone started dancing. Eli grabbed my hand and took me to the dance floor. It felt amazing to laugh and dance and be with the people I love. Finally Kevin said he wanted to make a speech.

"Hi everyone. I just wanted to say that I'm glad you all could make it. To my wonderful bride Cynthia, I love you so much darling. You bring me so much joy and happiness; I can't tell you how much I love you. I also wanted to say that 30 years ago, we lost a very special person in our life... my older brother Eric. Although I didn't know him personally, he's still a part of my life. Eric if you're listening I love you and wish you were here buddy"

Kevin's speech made me cry. Eli grabbed my hand, but I could see a tear trickling down his own cheek. Kevin came up to me and hugged me.

"Its okay mom, I know Eric will live forever in our hearts"

He kissed my head and walked back to Cynthia. I took deep breaths, in and out in and out. I looked at Eli and smiled, trying to regain my composure. He looked at me, gave me his signature smirk and used his thumb to wipe away my last tear.

"Let's go dance" He said

We danced all night and I had a blast. Once it started getting late, the guest started to leave and we thanked everyone for coming. We got home late that night, around 4:00am, but it was worth it. Kevin and his bride were practically glowing as we left, all full of young love. I feel asleep in the car, but was awoken by Eli after around 20 minutes. Eli started going up the stairs, but I stood in the hall.

"Go up without me, I'll be there soon" I said

He went up stairs and I walked over to the picture of Eric.

"Hey baby boy. You missed your brother's wedding. I know its not your fault, but I wish you were there. You should have seen Kevin. He looked so nice in his tux! I imagined that is how you would look as an adult ... but I'll never know now. I love you baby boy"

I stood for a couple of more minutes near his picture and then went upstairs, knowing Eric will always be with me.


End file.
